Marion courthouse one of few without metal detectors

MARION - Some officials are raising the issue of security at the Marion County Courthouse — one of the few in the state without metal detectors — in the wake of a gun attack on a Steubenville judge.

"As far as I know, there's never been any real security at the courthouse," said Marion County Board of Commissioners President Ken Stiverson.

The commissioners were scheduled to have a meeting about court security after their regular meeting Tuesday, but only met briefly with Marion County Assistant Prosecutor Dave Stamolis, postponing the discussion until a later date.

The planned meeting came after a Jefferson County judge was shot and wounded last month outside his courthouse in Steubenville.

While the county courthouse is outfitted with cameras, an alarm system and bailiffs, there are no metal detectors or x-ray machines regularly screening visitors to the courthouse, which the Ohio Supreme Court strongly recommends. Attorneys, court personnel, family members and observers walk freely in and out of courtrooms.

Kevin Williams, the bailiff for Marion County Judge William Finnegan, says there isn't enough security in place at the courthouse.

"We've been lucky that nothing so far has happened," said Williams, who has been a bailiff at the courthouse for nine years.

Williams said he would like to see a single entrance to the courthouse open to the public, with walk-through metal detectors standing at that entrance.

"We should have that. That's the way it is in just about any other court," he said.

Of 10 common pleas courthouses in Ohio counties with a similar population to Marion, one doesn't have walk-through metal detectors — Washington County Courthouse in Marietta, Ohio.

Marion County Common Pleas Court does own a walk-through metal detector, Williams said. But there is no one stationed at the detector to check people through, so it isn't operating.

The court uses the metal detector during high-profile cases when tensions may be running high, Williams said. When he has needed assistance, Williams said he has called on the court's other bailiff or probation officers, who are housed on the courthouse's first floor.

Judges were encouraged to look more closely at security measures at the annual Ohio Judicial Conference last week. Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said that ensuring judges’ safety should be a “primary, not secondary, concern” both inside and outside the courthouse.

The Chief Justice’s remarks came after a gunman shot and wounded Jefferson County Judge Joseph Bruzzese as he was walking into his courthouse. Bruzzese, who was armed, fired back.

The cost of stationing someone at the courthouse is one reason there are no metal detectors up and running.

"The cost is in the personnel," said Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey, saying the metal detectors would not only have to be manned during the day, but during the evenings and weekends when programming, such as Thinking for a Change classes, is going on.

Nor does Bailey want to reassign deputies to the courthouse.

"I'm not opposed to putting someone down there, I am just not going to take someone off patrol that protects the general public to protect one or two buildings," said Bailey, adding his patrol has always been understaffed. "That would be up to the commissioners to provide additional money for additional staffing."

Stiverson, the county commission president, said he didn't know whether there was funding available for additional staff at the courthouse. He said the commission would need to know what the cost would be before exploring that.

While Bailey said he has heard from county employees that they would like additional security at the courthouse and the county building, he also has heard from officials who believe extra security is unnecessary or a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Marion County Judge Jim Slagle believes the cost isn't worth it.

"I think it's hard to justify the cost," he said. "I’ve always said that I’m in much more danger in the six minutes I’m on the road from my home to the courthouse than I am once I’m here. And statistically, that is true."

Plus, the security measures could impede the public's access to the courthouse, Slagle said. The addition to common pleas court, the building houses the probation department, the clerk of courts and programming such as Thinking for a Change.

Finnegan, the county's administrative judge, was out of the office and could not be reached for comment.